The final result of the 2024 Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway on Sunday, August 11, will go down in the record books as Austin Dillon snapped a two-year winless drought and raced his way into the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs by winning the race.
An in-depth analysis of Dillon’s victory, however, will paint a distinct perspective of how he achieved it as he ground axes with Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin, both of whom were wrecked by Dillon on the final lap and final corner during an overtime attempt, that left both fuming and flabbergasted over Dillon’s path to victory.
With two laps remaining, Dillon, who had a strong run throughout the event and had overtaken Hamlin for the lead with 29 laps remaining, had a smooth path and a steady advantage to victory evaporate when a two-car incident involving Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Preece jumbled up the field for an overtime shootout.
Despite retaining the lead during the caution period’s pit sequence, Dillon lost the lead to Joey Logano at the start of the overtime shootout. Then on the final lap and approaching Turns 3 and 4 before the finish line, Dillon gassed his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet entry into the rear of Logano and sent the latter’s No. 22 Team Penske Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry spinning through the turns and towards the outside wall.
Dillon then steered dead left into the right rear of Denny Hamlin sending him hard against the frontstretch’s outside wall, as he zipped by both of them to claim the checkered flag in a dramatic finish for the ages.
Despite receiving harsh criticisms from his fellow competitors over the incident, the last-lap victory did not derail Austin Dillon’s relief as he leapfrogged his way into the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs from outside the top-30 mark in the regular-season standings. It was his first win at Richmond and his fifth career win in NASCAR’s premier series.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, August 10, Denny Hamlin notched his third Cup Series pole position of the 2024 season with a pole-winning lap at 118.162 mph in 22.850 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Martin Truex Jr., who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 117.822 mph in 22.916 seconds.
When the green flag waved and the event commenced, teammates Hamlin and Truex dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. Hamlin managed to muscle his No. 11 FedEx Rewards Toyota Camry XSE ahead of Truex entering the frontstretch to lead the first lap. Hamlin retained the lead for the following lap ahead of Truex while rookie Josh Berry, Christopher Bell and Chase Elliott trailed in the top five followed by the rest of the field, all of whom commenced the event on prime tires.
Through the first 10-scheduled laps and amid a series of early on-track battles, Hamlin was leading by half a second over teammate Truex followed by Berry, teammate Bell and Bubba Wallace while Joey Logano, Elliott, Austin Dillon, Chris Buescher and William Byron were running in the top 10. Behind, Tyler Reddick was situated in 11th place ahead of Ryan Blaney, Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson and Ross Chastain while Ty Gibbs, rookie Carson Hocevar, Kyle Busch, Alex Bowman and Noah Gragson trailed in the top 20 ahead of rookie Zane Smith, Daniel Suarez, Todd Gilliland, Erik Jones and Ryan Preece. Meanwhile, Brad Keselowski was mired in 28th place behind Corey LaJoie and Chase Briscoe, Michael McDowell was mired in 30th place and John Hunter Nemechek was in 32nd place behind Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Ten laps later, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to nine-tenths of a second over teammate Truex while teammate Bell trailed in third place by two seconds. As Berry settled in fourth place, Logano cracked the top five ahead of Wallace, Elliott, Buescher, Austin Dillon and Byron while Reddick, Blaney, Chastain, Ty Gibbs and Larson continued to trail in the top 15.
Another 15 laps later, Hamlin continued to lead ahead of teammates Bell and Truex, with the latter trailing by more than a second after the former overtook Truex for the spot through the backstretch. As Logano occupied fourth place, Wallace was up to fifth place after outlasting an earlier duel and on-track contact with Berry while Elliott, Buescher, Austin Dillon and Byron were running in the top 10. Reddick would then overtake Byron for 10th place a few laps later and Kyle Busch would be overtaken by Daniel Suarez for 18th place, which dropped Busch six places from his starting spot of 12th place, as Hamlin proceeded to stabilize his advantage to three-tenths of a second over teammate Bell by Lap 40.
On Lap 45 and with the leaders mired in lapped traffic, Bell used the outside lane, starting in Turns 1 and 2, to muscle his No. 20 DeWalt Carpentry Solutions Toyota Camry XSE past Hamlin, where he cleared Hamlin by the frontstretch, as he assumed the lead for the first time. Soon after, teammate Truex joined the battle as he started to duel with Hamlin for the runner-up spot while Bell proceeded to stretch his advantage to eight-tenths of a second by the Lap 50 mark.
Nearing the Lap 60 mark, Bell, who was mired in lapped traffic, continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over teammate Hamlin and more than a second over teammate Truex while Logano and Wallace continued to trail in the top five, with Wallace trailing by more than four seconds. Behind, Elliott, Austin Dillon and Buescher followed suit from sixth to eighth, respectively, while Berry had dropped to ninth place ahead of Reddick, Byron, Blaney, Chastain, Larson, Suarez, Hocevar, Gibbs, Kyle Busch, Cindric and Gilliland.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 70, Bell captured his 10th Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammates Hamlin and Truex followed suit in second and third, respectively, along with Logano and Wallace while Elliott, Austin Dillon, Buescher, Reddick and Berry were scored in the top 10. By then, 28 of 37 starters were scored on the lead lap, including 28th-place Noah Gragson, while 29th-place Michael McDowell was awarded the free pass for being the first competitor scored a lap down. By then, however, top names including Corey LaJoie, Justin Haley, Ty Dillon, Harrison Burton, John Hunter Nemechek, Daniel Hemric, Riley Herbst and newcomer Parker Retzlaff were pinned a lap down.
Under the stage break, the entire lead lap field led by Bell pitted for a first round of service. Following the pit stops, Bell, who bumped and sent Erik Jones sideways as Jones was trying to enter his pit stall while Bell was exiting his, retained the lead after he exited pit road first ahead of teammates Hamlin and 19 while Logano, Elliott, Austin Dillon, Buescher, Chastain, Reddick and Byron followed suit in the top 10. Amid the pit stops, Wallace lost six spots as he exited pit road in 11th place while Ty Dillon was penalized for speeding on pit road. In addition, Daniel Suarez and Michael McDowell were the only two competitors to pit for option tires instead of prime tires.
The second stage period started on Lap 80 as teammates Bell and Hamlin occupied the front row. At the start and with the field fanning out, Bell and Hamlin dueled for the lead for a full lap and they continued to duel for the following lap while Logano and Truex battled in close-quarters racing for third place. Despite Hamlin’s efforts to emerge ahead from the outside lane, Bell, who continued to run strong with slight damage to his front nose following his pit road contact with Erik Jones, fought back from the inside lane and refused to lift off the throttle as Truex and Logano continued to duel for third place in front of Austin Dillon and Elliott. Meanwhile, Suarez, racing on option tires, was up to eighth place after he restarted 16th as Hamlin just managed to clear Bell and have both lanes to his control with the lead by Lap 85.
Just past the Lap 90 mark, Suarez continued his fast march to the front as he overtook Bell for the runner-up spot on his option tires. He then started to close in on Hamlin for the lead before he used the outside lane to overtake Hamlin and move his No. 99 Choice Privileges Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the lead on Lap 93. Suarez would proceed to lead by more than two seconds over Hamlin at the Lap 100 mark while Bell, Logano, Truex, Elliott, Austin Dillon, Chastain, Larson and Buescher were scored in the top 10 ahead of Reddick, McDowell, Wallace, Blaney and Byron. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch was mired in 16th place as he was ahead of Gibbs, Berry, Hocevar and Cindric on the track.
By Lap 115, Suarez, who started to reduce his fast race pace to preserve his option tires, retained the lead by one-and-a-half seconds over Bell while Hamlin, Logano and Truex trailed in the top five ahead of Elliott, McDowell, Austin Dillon, Chastain and Larson.
Five laps later, select names including Chase Briscoe, Harrison Burton, Bell, Cindric, Daniel Hemric and rookie Zane Smith pitted under green before Suarez surrendered the lead to pit for prime tires by Lap 123. Truex and McDowell also pitted with Suarez as Hamlin cycled into the lead. Then as more names including Logano, Chastain, Wallace, Berry, Erik Jones, Hamlin and Buescher pitted under green during the proceeding laps, Buescher reversed his No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang Dark Horse back into his pit stall to have a left-front tire tightened as Elliott led by the Lap 125 mark.
Once Elliott pitted his No. 9 Coca-Cola Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 under green by Lap 128, teammate Larson cycled his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the lead as he was one of eight competitors who had not yet pitted under green while Bell, the first competitor who pitted, was in ninth place. More names including Byron, Kyle Busch and Blaney would pitted just past the Lap 130 mark while Larson continued to lead.
On Lap 144, Bell cycled into the lead as runner-up Larson, who has yet to pit, continued to run on the track ahead of Suarez and Reddick, the latter of whom has also yet to pit. Behind, Truex, Hamlin and Logano were running fifth to seventh, respectively, while Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who had yet to pit, was in eighth place ahead of Chastain, McDowell, Wallace, Berry, Keselowski, Austin Dillon and Elliott.
By Lap 149, Reddick pitted his No. 45 Mobil 1 Toyota Camry XSE from the top three before Larson, who was aiming for a one-stop pit strategy for the second stage period and was coming off a Knoxville National victory, pitted a lap later. During the pit stops, where Nemechek and Stenhouse also pitted, Bell stretched his advantage to two seconds over Suarez while Truex, Hamlin and Logano were scored in the top five.
By Lap 160, Bell stabilized his advantage to two seconds over Suarez as they were followed by Truex, Hamlin and Logano while Chastain, McDowell, Austin Dillon, Wallace and Elliott were racing in the top 10 ahead of Hocevar, Gilliland, Berry, Preece and Blaney. Meanwhile, Larson was mired in 23rd place, two spots behind Reddick, while Buescher was mired in 26th place ahead of Stenhouse and Keselowski. In addition, Kyle Busch was mired in 22nd place, Byron was in 16th place and Keselowski was scored a lap down in 28th place after he pitted for option tires.
A few laps later, select names including Briscoe, Ryan Preece, Cindric and Harrison Burton pitted under green before Berry, who was running in 13th place, pitted his No. 4 P&G Supports Our Military Ford Mustang Dark Horse by Lap 166. Zane Smith, Gilliland and Gragson pitted not long after as Bell retained the lead by nine-tenths of a second by Lap 170.
A lap after the Lap 170 mark, a series of front-runners, including Truex, Suarez, McDowell, Austin Dillon, Wallace, Buescher and Hocevar, pitted before Hamlin, Chastain, Logano, Blaney, Gibbs and the leader Bell pitted within the Lap 175 mark. Amid the pit stops, Truex, who pitted for prime tires, endured a slow pit service due to his pit crew having issues tightening the left-rear tire of Truex’s No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE as the jack dropped.
Teammates Byron, Bowman and Elliott pit under green nearing the Lap 180 mark as Reddick cycled into the lead ahead of Larson, Suarez, Kyle Busch and Bell. With Kyle Busch pitting for option tires from the top five a few laps later, Reddick retained the lead by Lap 185 before he was overtaken by Suarez for the top spot.
At the halfway mark on Lap 200, Suarez was leading by one-and-a-half seconds over Bell while Reddick, Hamlin, Larson, Logano, Austin Dillon, Stenhouse, McDowell and Wallace were racing in the top 10 ahead of Truex, Chastain, Hocevar, Keselowski, Berry, Byron, Elliott, Blaney, Ryan Preece, Gibbs and Kyle Busch, all of whom were scored on the lead lap. With 21st-place Busch attempting to gain spots while on the option tires after he un-lapped himself and trying to rally from his slow pit stop earlier, notables, including Buescher, Alex Bowman and Cindric were scored a lap down.
Fifteen laps later, Suarez continued to lead by more than a second over Bell as Hamlin, Reddick and Logano followed suit in the top five. With Austin Dillon, McDowell, Wallace, Larson and Truex hovering in the top 10 on the track ahead of Hocevar, Chastain, Stenhouse, Byron and Elliott, Suarez retained the lead by a second on Lap 220.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 230, Suarez, coming off a one-year contract extension with Trackhouse Racing, captured his first Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Bell settled in second ahead of Hamlin, Logano and Austin Dillon as McDowell, Reddick, Wallace, Hocevar and Elliott were scored in the top 10, with Elliott making contact with Truex to claim the final stage spot and point. By then, 16 of 37 starters were scored on the lead lap while 16th-place Berry managed to fend off Kyle Busch to emerge as the first competitor who was scored a lap down and received the free pass.
During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Suarez returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops and with a majority of the teams opting to pit for the option tires, Bell managed to edge Suarez off of pit road first while Hamlin, Logano, Austin Dillon, Reddick, McDowell, Wallace, Truex and Elliott followed suit in the top 10.
With 160 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Bell and Suarez occupied the front row. At the start and with the field fanning out, Bell, who was racing on option tires, rocketed ahead with the lead from the inside lane while teammate Hamlin followed suit along with Logano, Reddick, Suarez and Dillon.
Suarez started to lose pace from the majority of the field with his standard tires, where he was placed in a tight four-wide action in the backstretch and dropped out of the top-10 category, Reddick and Dillon moved up into the top five ahead of Wallace, Chastain, Hocevar, McDowell and Truex as Bell retained the lead over teammate Hamlin with 155 laps remaining. Logano would then move his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the runner-up spot over Hamlin as Bell led with 150 laps remaining.
Then with 150 laps remaining, Truex’s strong event started to go south as he reported a loss of power to his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE. He would then pit under green during the following lap and drop out of the lead lap category as his pit crew lifted the hood of the car and with smoke coming out. With Truex’s car then being pushed behind the wall a few laps later due to his engine issues, Bell continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second with 140 laps remaining.
As the event reached its final 125-lap mark, Bell stretched his advantage to a second over Logano as Hamlin, Reddick and Austin Dillon were scored in the top five. Behind, Wallace was in sixth place ahead of McDowell, Blaney, Chastain and Hocevar while Byron, Elliott, Berry, Stenhouse and Larson occupied the top 15 ahead of Suarez, Cindric, Buescher, Kyle Busch and Alex Bowman.
Three laps later, teammates Larson and Byron pitted under green before Hamlin pitted his No. 11 FedEx Rewards Toyota Camry XSE a few laps later. Logano would then pit along with Berry, Reddick, Wallace, McDowell, Dillon, Blaney, Chastain, Buescher and the leader Bell, all of whom opted to switch from option to primary tires. During the pit stops, Bell was assessed a drive-through penalty for speeding on pit road along with Alex Bowman.
As Bell served his drive-through penalty with 115 laps remaining, Elliott, who had a brief advantage, pitted as Suarez cycled into the lead. Bell, who was pinned back in 15th place following his speeding penalty, would un-lap himself with 112 laps remaining as Suarez had a three-second advantage over Hamlin during the proceeding laps. Suarez would then pit from the lead under green with 107 laps remaining as Hamlin cycled into the lead. By then, Preece and Gibbs pitted their respective entries while Logano, Reddick, Austin Dillon and Wallace moved up into the top five.
Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Hamlin was leading by half a second over Logano followed by Austin Dillon, Reddick and Wallace while Chastain, Byron, McDowell, Larson and Berry were scored in the top 10 ahead of Hocevar, Stenhouse, Bell, Blaney, Elliott and Kyle Busch, all of whom were scored on the lead lap. Meanwhile, Suarez was the first competitor scored a lap down in 17th place following his green flag pit service.
Fifteen laps later, Hamlin slightly stretched his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over a side-by-side battle between Logano and Austin Dillon for the runner-up spot, with the former managing to retain the spot from the outside lane. Behind, 23XI Racing’s Reddick and Wallace trailed in the top five as Chastain, Byron, McDowell, Larson and Berry continued to run in the top 10. With Suarez back on the lead lap in 16th place, Busch was mired back in 26th place and off the lead lap category after pitting under green earlier.
Another 10 laps later, Hamlin’s lead extended to a second as Logano continued to fend off Austin Dillon for the runner-up spot. A few laps later, however, Dillon overtook Logano for the runner-up spot and he would proceed to shave off Hamlin’s advantage with a fast No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 with 70 laps remaining, where he trailed by two-tenths of a second and even got close to Hamlin’s rear bumper. By then, however, Logano pitted under green along with McDowell, Larson, Briscoe and Preece.
As Chastain and Byron pitted under green with 67 laps remaining, the leader Hamlin pitted along with Reddick, Wallace, Berry, Buescher, Keselowski, Harrison Burton and Elliott before Austin Dillon, who inherited a brief lead, pitted during the following lap. Amid the pit stops, Bell was leading with less than 60 laps remaining.
With 54 laps remaining and with nearly the entire field having made a pit stop, Hamlin and Austin Dillon rocketed past Suarez, who has yet to pit, on the track, with Bell having pitted under green earlier. Dillon would proceed to keep Hamlin close within his sights as he trailed the lead by less than half a second with less than 50 laps remaining while Logano, Suarez, Reddick and Wallace followed suit in the top six. By then, 14 competitors were scored on the lead lap while Bell was mired a lap down in 15th place. Soon after, Blaney, who was running near the top five, pitted for option tires with 45 laps remaining while Suarez pitted five laps later.
Down to the final 35 laps of the event and with the leaders mired in lapped traffic, Hamlin maintained the lead by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Austin Dillon while Logano, Reddick and Wallace continued to trail in the top five. Behind, Chastain, Larson, McDowell, Berry and Byron were in the top 10 as Hocevar, Bell, Elliott and Stenhouse rounded out the 14-car field of those scored on the lead lap while Suarez and Blaney were the first two competitors pinned a lap down.
Over the next five laps, Austin Dillon pressured Hamlin for the lead through every corner, where he made contact with the latter for the top spot. Hamlin, however, managed to retain the top spot by a narrow margin with 30 laps remaining. Then a lap after Suarez zipped by Hamlin to un-lap himself on his tires, Dillon dueled with Hamlin for a full circuit with 29 laps remaining before he cleared Hamlin through the frontstretch and had control with the top spot during the following lap.
With 20 laps remaining, Austin Dillon extended his advantage to nine-tenths of a second over Hamlin as Logano, Reddick and Wallace remained in the top five ahead of Chastain, Suarez, Larson, Hocevar and McDowell, with Suarez clocking in fast lap times on his option tires while the majority of the front-runners were running on primary tires. Suarez would navigate his way up to sixth place and trail the lead by 11 seconds while Dillon, who was mired in lapped traffic, continued to lead by nearly two seconds over Hamlin with 15 laps remaining.
Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Austin Dillon continued to lead by two-and-a-half seconds over Hamlin as they were followed by Logano, Reddick and Wallace while sixth-place Suarez still trailed the lead by eight seconds.
Then with two laps remaining, the caution flew and the event was sent into overtime when Stenhouse and Preece made contact entering the first turn sending Preece spinning while Stenhouse hit the outside wall towards the first two turns. The incident, which occurred in front of Austin Dillon, erased Dillon’s steady advantage of three seconds over Hamlin.
During the caution period, the leaders led by Austin Dillon pitted for their final set of option tires. Following the pit stops, Dillon’s No. 3 Bass Pro Shops pit crew executed a stellar pit service that allowed Dillon to exit pit road first as Logano, Hamlin, Reddick, Wallace, Suarez, Chastain, Blaney, Larson and Bell followed suit in the top 10.
The start of the first overtime attempt featured Logano gaining the advantage from the outside lane while Austin Dillon appeared to struggle to launch from the inside lane. As the field fanned out through the first two turns, Logano managed to muscle ahead and clear Dillon to have both the lead and both lanes under his control through the backstretch
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Logano remained as the leader ahead of Austin Dillon as Hamlin, Reddick and Wallace followed suit. Through the first two turns and the backstretch, Dillon could not gain any ground on Logano. T
hen through Turns 3 and 4, Dillon stood on the gas and ran into the rear of Logano, which sent Logano spinning towards the outside wall as Dillon also went up the track. With Hamlin then trying to overtake both approaching the frontstretch, Dillon veered dead left into Hamlin’s right-rear corner and sent Hamlin hard against the outside wall, which left Hamlin with a crumbled right-rear tire as his wheel hub broke. This allowed Dillon to move back into the lead as he claimed the checkered flag with the victory just as the caution flew.
With the victory, Dillon, who recorded the 102nd career win for the number 3, tied Chris Buescher, Ward Burton, Dan Gurney, Alan Kulwicki, Tiny Lund, Dave Marcis, Jeremy Mayfield and Ralph Moody for 78th place on the all-time Cup Series wins list with five victories apiece. Dillon also snapped a 68-race winless drought that dates back to August 2022 at Daytona International Speedway as he also claimed his first short-track career victory and placed a Richard Childress Racing entry into Victory Lane in NASCAR’s premier series since teammate Kyle Busch made the last accomplishment at World Wide Technology Raceway in June 2023.
The Richmond victory made Dillon the 13th competitor overall to clinch a spot into the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs based on winning throughout this year’s regular-season stretch as Dillon will make his sixth career appearance in NASCAR’s postseason battle for the championship.
“It’s been two years and this is the first car I’ve had with a shot to win,” Dillon, who was emotional but defended his move, said on USA Network. “I felt like with two [laps] to go, we were the fastest car, obviously had to have a straightaway and Ricky [Stenhouse Jr.] wrecked [Preece]. I hate to do that [on Logano], but sometimes, you just got to [make it] happen. It’s been tough over the last two years, man. It means a lot. I hate it, but I had to do it. [I was willing to do] Whatever it takes. Whatever it takes. We just never give up. I can’t thank all the people that helped this team. You just got to get it done sometimes.”
While Dillon celebrated with his pit crew and family on the frontstretch, Logano, who ended up in 19th place in the final running order, was left fuming over Dillon’s move that resulted in both him and Denny Hamlin with wrecked race cars. Amid his frustration over NASCAR’s decision to not penalize Dillon while also not mincing his words during his post-race comments, he hinted a little clue of a potential payback in the coming weeks to Dillon as the 2024 Playoffs looms.
“It was chicken [expletive]. There’s no doubt about it,” Logano said. “[Dillon]’s four car lengths back. Not even close. Then he wrecks [Hamlin] and go along with it. Then, he’s gonna go up there and thank God and praise everything with his baby. It’s a bunch of BS. It’s not even freakin’ close. I get it, bump and run. I didn’t back up the corner at all. He came in there and drove through me. It’s ridiculous that that’s the way we race. Unbelievable. I get bump and runs. I do that. I would expect it, but from four car lengths back, he was never gonna make the corner and then, he wrecks the other car, [Hamlin] to go with it. What a piece of crap.”
Meanwhile, Hamlin, who was credited with the runner-up result at the moment of caution despite wrecking on the frontstretch, was left the most flabbergasted over the incident and even appeared to criticize NASCAR’s lack of action to penalize competitors for wrecking one another for victories while also both criticizing and recognizing the situation Dillon was in to make the move and get into the Playoffs from a driver’s perspective.
“It’s obviously foul, but it’s fair in NASCAR,” Hamlin said. “It’s just a different league where there is no penalties for rough driving or anything like that. It opens up the opportunity for Austin [Dillon] to be able to just do whatever he wants. The problem I had was that I got hooked in the right rear again. I’m just minding my own business and he turned left and hooked me in the right rear and blew my damn shoulder out. I don’t know. The record book won’t care about what happened. He’s gonna be credited with the win, but obviously, he’s just not gonna go far. You got to pay your dues back on stuff like that, but it’s worth it because they jump 20 positions in points. So I understand all that. There’s no ill will there. I get it. I just hate that I was part of it. It would’ve been fun if I was not one of the two guys that got taken out on the last corner, but I understand it. Doesn’t mean I have to agree about it and we’ll talk about it tomorrow.”
Following the event, Elton Sawyer, NASCAR’s Vice President of Competition, noted that the sanctioning body would review the final lap incident along with every audio and resource that played key roles in the incident, with any potential penalties to be announced this upcoming Tuesday.
Hamlin’s 23XI Racing competitors, Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace, came home in third and fourth while Ross Chastain navigated his way through to fifth place.
Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, rookie Carson Hocevar, Chase Elliott and Daniel Suarez completed the top 10 in the final running order.
There were 26 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 23 laps. In addition, 19 of 37 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the 23rd event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Kyle Larson leads the regular-season standings by five points over Tyler Reddick, six over teammate Chase Elliott and 21 over Denny Hamlin.
Results.
1. Austin Dillon, 35 laps led
2. Denny Hamlin, 124 laps led
3. Tyler Reddick, eight laps led
4. Bubba Wallace
5. Ross Chastain
6. Christopher Bell, 122 laps led, Stage 1 winner
7. Kyle Larson, 17 laps led
8. Carson Hocevar, two laps led
9. Chase Elliott, five laps led
10. Daniel Suarez, 93 laps led, Stage 2 winner
11. Ryan Blaney
12. Kyle Busch
13. William Byron
14. Josh Berry
15. Michael McDowell
16. Brad Keselowski
17. Todd Gilliland
18. Chris Buescher
19. Joey Logano, two laps led
20. Noah Gragson, one lap down
21. Chase Briscoe, one lap down
22. Ty Gibbs, one lap down
23. Zane Smith, one lap down
24. Austin Cindric, one lap down
25. Ryan Preece, one lap down
26. Ty Dillon, one lap down
27. Justin Haley, two laps down
28. Alex Bowman, two laps down
29. Erik Jones, two laps down
30. Daniel Hemric, two laps down
31. John Hunter Nemechek, three laps down
32. Harrison Burton, three laps down
33. Riley Herbst, three laps down
34. Corey LaJoie, four laps down
35. Parker Retzlaff, six laps down
36. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident
37. Martin Truex Jr. – OUT, Engine
Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, August 18, and air at 2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.
